Jackal
by Krisymkk
Summary: When Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi return from a long mission, they have to learn how to work as a team again with Sakura. AU
1. Chapter 1

He was running as fast as he could. Oh, he knew they'd eventually catch up, but he could prolong it as long as possible. He hoped it would be someone inept—they were far easier to escape from, he'd done it before—but he wouldn't hold out hope for it. There was a reason he had lived this long. Always be wary. It was his motto, and he would stick to it.

Something tingled at the edge of his senses. Was that a bell? Well, looked like whomever they had sent was new. You didn't wear things that made noise if you were trying to catch missing-nin, and that was something most genin even understood. Too bad for this nin, it would be their last mistake. He kept running.

It was nearing dawn—he could see the faintest of light appearing on the horizon. There was a small fishing village close by. It was possible he could slip into the morning crowd if he hid his chakra signal well enough. Or, he could keep running. Those were really his only options. He had hoped that his pursuer would tire and eventually drop off, but that had not happened. Hmm, maybe the bell hadn't been them.

So caught up in his thoughts was he, that he failed to notice that the once faint tinkling sound had grown closer, and had been for some time. The nin had grown accustomed to the sound, and the bell was the only warning her would get.

Watching closely from the trees a few meters behind the missing-nin, the masked shinobi waited. The bells had done their work nicely, and the nin no longer noticed them. How convenient—most times it took longer. Now it was time to start the real work. Jackal gently weaved the tingling bells into the genjustu; it wouldn't take long for their prey to succumb, not with the level of competency they'd shown so far. Besides, the goal was not death, as was usual. Instead it was capture. Interrogation would have fun with this one.

Once the target was out, Jackal approached. With a flick of the wrist, a pressure point was pressed and a chakra block added to the base of the skull. While Jackal was sure he wouldn't wake up, restraints were added anyway. It was always better to be safe.

With the target suitably restrained and thrown over the shoulder, Jackal disappeared.

"Shizune! Where did you hide my sake this time?!"

Everyone in Hokage Tower cringed at the bellow that emerged from the Hokage's office, and turned to glare at the Hokage's assistant.

"Shizune, I swear I love you, but give us a warning or something the next time you purge her office. We have to deal with her after all."

Shizune smiled sheepishly at Sakura, who was walking towards Tsunade's office with a stack of paperwork. "Sorry, Sakura. I guess I could have planned that one better. Its just she has so much paperwork she hasn't completed… I thought it would motivate her."

Sakura snorted. "Motivate? Really? The only thing that motivates her to do is throw people through walls."

At this point the woman herself interrupted. "Oi! I can hear you, ya know! Get in here, brats! I've got something important to tell you."

The two Sanin's students entered the office with only a small amount of trepidation. They were used to this by now.

Tsunade motioned for them to close the door, as she sound-proofed the room. This caused a raised eyebrow—this must be important indeed.

"Alright, kids. What I have to tell you isn't really life or death, but it does need to stay private."

"Well, Shishou, maybe you should just tell us?"

Sakura swiftly side-stepped as Tsunade threw a pen at her. "Enough of your sass, girl. This mainly concerns you anyway. We received word from Kakashi late last night. They have successfully completed their mission are on their way back."

Sakura smiled. It had been sometime since she'd seen her teammates as she had not been able to accompany them. "When are they expected back?"

"We are expecting them back anytime. They'll need to be put under quarantine once they get here. Kakashi mentioned in his missive that they had to go to the mainland. Standard time, and we'll check their bloodwork and all that jazz. You'll be overseeing their hospital stay so you will need to get everything ready. Shizune, you will be checking the lab work. They will only be able to speak to us three until quarantine is over—that is, unless I personally clear it. They will also have an ANBU guard, mainly because of Kakashi."

Shizune and Sakura both shook their heads at that. When would he ever learn?

"Just remember that their mission was classified. You are both high-ranking, so it may be discussed with you, however, no one else. In fact, until quarantine is over and they are properly debriefed, I would prefer it if this was kept between us three. Kakashi has been notified that the team is to speak to no one, and to arrive on the appropriate hospital floor."

"Well then, I guess I should go get stuff ready then."

Tsunade waved her off, and released the jutsu.

"Tsunade-sama, how do think the boys will take the news?"

"Not good, I suspect. Especially Naruto—I'm not looking forward to his tantrum."

"At any rate, it won't be much longer now until she joins them again. She has already turned in her retirement paperwork, right?"

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, she turned it in directly to me a few days ago. She still has the waiting period before she is officially out of the ops, but I probably won't sent her out again—especially with them coming back. She was adamant that she didn't want them to even suspect that she was a member."

"From what I understand, no one knows except her superiors. She's done a good job of keeping it quiet. She's even kept the mental stress from getting to her—that's what usually tips people off."

"She has. She has recently come to me with plans to revamp the counseling courses most of the other members take. I'm inclined to change them, but will start with a small group. Personally, I think that is one of the biggest reason's she joined to begin with, but I could be wrong—she never told me."

"It would not surprise me. She's done very well, though. I think when her boys find out, they will not be happy with her."

"No. No, they will not."


	2. Chapter 2

It was the middle of the night as the walls of Konoha loomed into their vision. It was a wonderful sight to see after so long—a year and a half.

They were technically one team member short—Sakura had not been able to accompany them, for reasons unknown to all but the Hokage—and they missed their only female member. Sure, she was violent at times, but she kept them in one piece and was, in general, a good person to talk to. She always had interesting insights and a unique perspective.

The team had been instructed to transport to the third floor of the hospital once they were within sight of the walls, so without speaking, they simultaneously performed the teleportation jutsu…

…and a disorientating feeling later, found them in the silent, dark halls of the hospital.

"So, what do we do now? Doesn't look like there's anyone here to meet us."

Of course Naruto wouldn't know the procedures—it was standard for all ANBU, but he was not a former member like he and Sai were. With a tired eye crease, Kakashi explained. "Now we wait. There will be someone assigned to us, but we will have to wait on them since our arrival was not scheduled." He felt a chakra signal flare at the end of the hallway. "It appears we will not have long at all to wait."

Naruto and Sai had felt it too, which was good. Sometimes he wondered about them. He knew they were good ninjas, but sometimes they were _both_ obtuse. They waited; Naruto impatiently shifting from foot to foot as they felt Sakura's chakra get closer. When she finally came into view, Naruto impatiently ran to her and swept her off of her feet in a crushing bear hug.

"Sakura-chan! I missed you!"

"Naruto, quiet down. This floor may be empty, but the people below are sleeping!" Even as she admonished him, she couldn't help but laugh at his antics. "And, I missed you, too. How was your mission?"

Naruto immediately shut his mouth—which was good, they had not yet been informed of who they could talk to about it—"Sorry, Sakura-chan, but we have to talk to baa-chan first."

"She should be in tomorrow morning. Come on, I'll take you to your rooms. Hope you don't mind sharing." She talked as she walked, "It'll be easier on me and you that way."

This piqued Kakashi's interest. "Will you be taking care of us for the duration?"

"Yep! It will only be seven days unless something shows up on your bloodwork or if you've been anywhere on the watch list. Truthfully, I think the only reason you are being quarantined at all is because you made a trip to the mainland, as well as the fact that your mission was so long."

"You've been told about our mission?"

She glanced back at Sai. "Small pieces of it. I will likely be around tomorrow when you guys debrief Tsunade. If not, you can tell me about it later if you want."

"Wait a minute. If we are in quarantine, and you come into contact with us, doesn't that mean you can't be around other people, too?"

She dug her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door she had stopped in front of, all the while laughing at Naruto's seriously confused face. "That's right. I will be stuck with you and you with me. However, I don't have to stay in the same room as my temporary office adjacent to yours. I have some paperwork and other things I will have to take care of."

With their energy beginning to lag, the trio followed the pink-haired medic into the room. Which, turned out to be more of a suite than a room. There was one large room flanked by three smaller rooms. One, Kakashi assumed, was a bathroom. Another was probably Sakura's office. He wasn't certain, but the third was likely an examination room. No one liked to be examined in front of others, and he had a hunch they would all need full physicals. Whether that came now or later, he was unsure.

In the main room were located three beds, with curtain dividers between them, a bookshelf—he noted they were filled with Icha Icha as well as some he had not heard of, a desk, and—oh they were pulling out all the stops—a television.

"Pick your beds, guys. I'll be in here. If you need anything, let me know."

"Good night, Sakura-chan."

"Good night, guys. I will see you in the morning."

Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi tiredly watched her disappear into her office as they lay down on their chosen beds.

"This is going to suck so bad. I'm finally back in Konoha, and I have to wait a whole week before I can have Ichiraku ramen."

Sai simply rolled his eyes, and Kakashi ignored him.

"Not to mention this is going to be so boring! At least Kakashi will have his books—don't think I didn't notice you eyeing them—and Sai, you never get bored. What am I going to do?"

"I do get bored, but unlike you, dickless, I know how to entertain myself."

Before Naruto could take the bait, Kakashi interrupted. "Now then, children. How about we all just go to sleep? Tomorrow will probably be a long day of medical tests and needles."

Their grumbles made him chuckle as they settled down to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sakura-chan, I swear, if you stick me on more time, I might just decide you're not my favorite medic anymore."

She couldn't help herself—his pouty face and blocked stance, added to the look in his eyes that said he was totally kidding—she had to laugh. So she did. So much so that she put the needle back on the tray to avoid sticking him in the wrong spot. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sai and Kakashi looked much the same way, and it set her off again just as she was about to calm down.

"I really don't appreciate being laughed at. I think you've stuck me about a million times in the last hour."

Calming herself to a small snicker, Sakura said, "Sorry, Naruto. I've got to get several blood samples, and I've got to update your vaccinations. The good news is that there is only one more, and we are done with the needles for a while."

"Please explain why you need more than one sample? Can't you just run all the tests from the one?"

"Well, the simple reason is that some of the tests require the use of more blood than others do. I have to make sure there is enough for all of them. Now, be a big boy and don't complain."

 _That_ caused Sai to laugh. It was unusual to her to see him being so normal. Guess eighteen months would see a change in him. She briefly wondered how much Naruto and Kakashi had changed as well. She knew that _she_ had.

"Couldn't you at least give me a lollipop or something to make me feel better about it? I'm not meant to be a porcupine."

Sakura snorted. "I don't have any lollipops, but I _do_ have something better. It won't be here for a bit though. Got to wait on the hospital to send it up."

"Alright, Kakashi. Its your turn now."

With a sigh that sounded suspiciously like defeat, Kakashi began rolling up his sleeve. Sakura hadn't done any true exams yet, instead choosing to start with their blood work. It had seemed like she had stuck Naruto a billion times, although he knew that in actuality it wasn't anywhere near that much. He hated needles—sharp things cutting through your skin usually meant bad things for shinobi.

"Is it going to be as many as it was with Naruto?"

He watched as she grabbed his chart to check how many he needed. The look of concentration on her face as she counted told him it had to be a high number.

"Honestly, its worse. Naruto was caught up before he left. You appear to be behind on a number of vaccines—that should have been taken care of before departure, not sure how that one slipped by." Her voice promised there would be severe repercussions for that oversight. "We'll start with the blood draw. That'll be the same at least."

Sakura got to work filling up several small vials with his blood before labeling them when she was finished. Kakashi glared at Sai. He had been the first one to wake up, as Sakura didn't feel the need to keep them on a schedule. As he had been awake sometime before everyone else, he was already done. Needless to say, Kakashi was a little jealous.

A buzzing sound caught his attention just as Sakura finished the last injection. That would be Tsunade, then. He wondered how they were supposed to meet with her when they couldn't leave their suite. Coded scrolls maybe? He hoped not. That would be a pain.

At the sound, Sakura disappeared into the third as yet unseen room. She was gone several minutes before returning, and grabbing the blood samples.

"Come on you three. Tsunade's waiting."

"Oh man, couldn't she have waited until after lunch? This is going to take forever!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she led them into the conference room. At least Naruto couldn't have changed that much.

The third room was separated by a glass wall that had small, grey circles put in at different intervals. In the middle of a wall, there appeared to be a box that slide from one side of the wall to the other. It would be how Sakura got the blood samples handed off.

The three men noted that Tsunade was seated in a chair on the other side, flanked by two ANBU. Kakashi recognized their masks and gave a small wave, receiving a nod in return. Shizune was there as well, holding her pet pig in her arms.

"Welcome back, kids. Tell me how it went."

"Well, it sucked. It was long and I didn't have any ramen."

Every single eye in the room rolled, and Kakashi smacked him upside his head.

"We have a full written report to give you, but the basis is that while we searched for any information regarding the sudden disappearance of Akatsuki, we were not able to find any. We heard rumors here and there about the various members, but when we checked them, we were unable to ascertain their validity.

It seems as though Akatsuki vanished off the face of the earth, and for no apparent reason. Its possible that eventually we may come across the explanation, but we did not find it. However, we found something else that we feel you should know about."

At this point Sai stepped forward, and unrolled a scroll from his pouch as he took over from Kakashi.

"While they do not appear to be joining together, there have been an increasing number of missing-nin from a variety of villages. However, it seems to be that it is mostly the smaller ones such as Getsukagure. Usually you hear of a handful of missing nin at a time, but the numbers are easily in the hundreds. That's concerning for a variety of reasons."

Now, it appeared to be Naruto's turn—which was surprising.

"We checked up on the villages to see if maybe there was something going on internally to cause an exodus. We weren't able to find much, however, several of the villages have seen an increase in the popularity of a new religion. That's the only connecting factor we were able to figure out."

Tsunade's face was a picture of concern. Bored concern, but concern nonetheless. "Well, to borrow Shikamaru's _favorite_ saying, this is troublesome to hear. When did this new religion begin gaing popularity?"

"Right after it was rumored that the Akatsuki was no more," Kakashi's face—or what was visible of it—said all that needed to be said about that.

"Hmm…I see. So its no coincidence. It appears that while we lost one threat, we may have gained another. Now that we know what to look for, I can send a few teams out to investigate more fully. For now, though, I'll take your written report and be going."

Kakashi pulled it from a pocket on his flak jacket and looked questioningly to Sakura, who simply laughed and plucked it from his hands. Moments later it found its way to the Hokage.

"One more thing before I go. Sakura, your delivery should be up soon, if it isn't already. I passed them on the way in." And with that, Tsunade left, leaving the ANBU behind.

Sakura placed a hand on her hip as she quirked an eyeball at them. "You our guard?" When the answer was in the affirmative, she began issuing commands. "Alrightty then. I need one of you at the door to the suite, and another at the window. Can't afford any mishaps."

 _Oh._ Kakashi realized the guard was for him. Well wasn't this just peachy? He knew those two—he could probably get away from them if he truly wanted to get out of the hospital, but oh would there be hell to pay. He knew that if they went through the trouble of a guard, Sakura and Tsunade would have no trouble keeping him so doped up he'd have no way to stop the drool from running down his face. Looked like he'd be staying in the hospital for the entire time. He had been hoping to at least read on the roof—one of the Icha Ichas on the shelf was one he had yet to read. Guess that plan was out without explicit permission. He already had chakra blockers in his system, courtesy of Sakura earlier, and couldn't even use the teleportation jutsu.

Sakura laughed as Kakashi realized just why the two masked shinobi were here.

"Lets go eat. Our food's probably been sent up."

* * *

Please review! It gives me strength to write more!


	4. Chapter 4

"I take it back. You're not only my favorite medic, but my favorite person."

"You only say that because she ordered you ramen, Dickless."

"Hey! Don't call me that!"

"You're just upset that you can't come up with an equally insulting name to call me."

"That's enough, boys. I'll be happy to give you sedatives if you can't calm down on your own."

Sai and Naruto blanched. She would totally follow through on her threat, and while being calm wasn't such a bad thing, having your reaction times slowed down was. After the boys settled on quiet grumbles and glares, she smiled and went back to her own meal.

"So, your blood work should be done later this evening. Shizune will get the results to me in the morning. In the meantime, why don't you guys tell me what you've been up to? I've missed you all."

Naruto, of course, was the first one to start.

"We did a lot of running around, waiting, and listening. It was really kind of boring." The pout on his face said it all. "We didn't get to fight hardly anyone! Worst mission of my life."

"We did get to see a lot of beautiful places, though. I sketched several of them for you since you weren't able to go. I thought you might like to see them."

She smiled at Sai and gave an affirmative answer. He had definitely come a _long_ way from the emotionless boy who had joined their team. He was probably still a little emotionally stunted, but at least it wasn't as bad anymore.

"Which that reminds me, Sakura-chan. Why weren't you able to go with us?"

Sakura sighed as she told them the partial truth. "We had just received word that there was an epidemic in Suna, and they were asking for our aid. Tsunade-sama had already assigned me and a few others to travel there to take care of it. Since we didn't know how long it would take, she went ahead and sent you out. It's a good thing too. It took months to clear the illness in Suna."

"What kind of illness was it?"

Sakura glanced to Kakashi, who still seemed disinterested even though he had just spoken.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much about it. You'd have to ask Tsunade. The details of my mission to Suna as well as details about the epidemic are classified." She was met with a raised eyebrow. "What I've already told you is common knowledge, though."

"It must've been really bad, right Sakura-chan? I'm glad you were able to fix it."

Naruto's statement made her inwardly frown. If it only that was the truth. The epidemic had devastated Suna's economy, and they were just now beginning to recover. The worst part of it, though, was that Sakura had immediately recognized what was wrong. The strain of illness that had coursed through Suna had died out years ago—she knew because Tsunade had made her study diseases that had been wiped out. There were two possible explanations: that someone still carrying the disease had come to Suna, even though the last reported case of it was eighty years ago, or the more likely one that someone had engineered a biological attack. The population of Suna had declined rapidly, and it would be a long time before the remaining people forgot about it.

* * *

Sai was watching her as she interacted with Naruto. Kakashi was ignoring all three of them in favor of his books. He had seen the way the corner of her eyes had tightened when she speaking about her mission in Suna—he wondered if he could get Tsunade to tell him what happened. He would bet that Kakashi would ask, too. Even if he was ignoring them, he would still file away the pertinent parts of the conversation.

She was more guarded than when they had left. It was hard to see, but it was there. There could be a number of reasons for it—the most likely in his mind was that as the Hokage's apprentice she was privy to a lot of classified information. She probably didn't want anything to slip and catch Naruto's attention. Kami knew that _everyone_ would know if that happened. His blonde teammate had a very hard time keeping his mouth shut. Of course, that was speculation. Something else may have happened while they were gone. They would need to get used to being around each other again. It shouldn't be difficult to get their teamwork back up to par, however.

"Sakura, has anything interesting happened in the village while we were away?"

Even though he had been the one to ask the question, Sai wasn't really answering. Although, he did hear that during the winter festival Gai and Lee _both_ had dressed up as geisha because they had lost a challenge.

"And what was the challenge Sakura? I would love to shake the hand of whoever came up with their punishment." Of course Kakashi wanted to know, however, if the wicked gleam in her eyes said anything, Sai already knew the answer.

"I challenged them. I bet that they would not be late for a single one of their medical appointments for the whole year otherwise they would have to dress up. They almost made it, too. There was a week left and they missed one. They weren't even late, they completely forgot about it. Needless to say, the festival had some interesting entertainment. I've got pictures at my house. I'll be happy to show you later."

* * *

The team spent the rest of the week catching up and telling stories about everything that had happened while they were apart. Some were hilarious— such as Sai somehow being convinced to enter a talent show as part their information gathering—and some were not, like how Naruto had gotten sever food poisoning from eating unknown berries (which, Sakura mused, was just like him). He was given a smack to the head and a lecture about how he knew better than to just grab random berries and stuff them in his mouth.

Kakashi and Sai both snickered at him, before receiving the same treatment. All in all, it appeared things were back to normal.

* * *

Please R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

On the second night after quarantine had ended, she felt a presence outside of her window. She laid still as she felt the chakra flare, and then got up to open the window.

"Haruno-san, Hokage-sama requests your immediate presence."

A scroll was handed over, and then the masked shinobi disappeared from her window.

Sakura opened the scroll, and quickly read the message. It seemed she would be going on a mission again.

She quickly dressed, and performed a henge on herself. It wasn't a drastic change, but it was enough so that she was unrecognizable—she had changed her hair color to a light red, and altered the shape of her face. She tied her hair up into a high tail, before putting her mask in place and teleporting to Hokage Tower.

There were two ANBU operatives already in the room with Tsunade when she arrived, and they were both shinobi she knew well. They had trained her to join the ops after all.

"This mission won't take you too long, however, it is extremely important that it is finished quickly. If it weren't for the contents of the message I'm to send, I'd send it with a regular team, or a messenger hawk even. It's simple really; make sure the scroll gets to Gaara's hands, and Gaara's only. Suna may be needing medical aid again soon, if the contents are anything to go by. We want to warn them as soon as possible. Pack what you need and get out of the village before sun up."

The three ANBU bowed low before vanishing.

"Tsunade-sama, I thought you weren't going to send her out again?" Shizune's face as she worried always twisted in the most unattractive way.

"I wasn't. However, it's possible they may not make in time and she'll be needed. It will be easier if she is there when it starts this time."

* * *

They ran. Sprinting for six hours, running for one, and resting for no more than thirty minutes at a time. The trek to Suna normally took three days—if possible, they needed to make it there sooner.

And they did—by a full six hours. They passed a Suna patrol a few hours into the desert that radioed ahead to the village. That made entering and getting an appointment to see Gaara was considerably easier. They stood in formation in front of the Kazekage's desk as he read through the information, Temari and Kankuro at his side reading over his shoulder.

He passed the missive back to the ANBU captain, who read over it before taking his mask off. Genma motioned for the other two to do the same. Of course, Sakura was still under henge.

"Haruno-san, will you be overseeing the hospital for us again?"

It appeared that Tsunade must have named her in the report. That, or she seriously needed to work on her transformation skills.

"Yes, for a time. I will need to make sure that everything is in order should something occur. I am unsure how long we will be staying. However, if I am not here and you have need of me, you simply have to send word. Have the staff completed the training regimen I gave them the last time I was here?"

The Kazekage nodded his head.

"Then things will go much more smoothly."

"I will provide accommodations for you in my home. It is probably best if you remain under henge, while the others remain masked. I will have Temari escort you to the hospital in the morning to explain to the staff."

The Konoha shinobi were effectively dismissed as they followed Temari to their rooms. They were exhausted and needed as much sleep as they could get. They had a big day tomorrow.

* * *

Sakura felt like she'd been run over by a boulder. It was far, _far_ too early to get up after their run to Suna. She rolled over out of bed as the smell of coffee began to drift towards her from the common room of their suite.

She dressed quickly, and stuck her hair back into the tail as she walked out of her room.

"Aoba, I could kiss you right about now."

The tall man snorted as he poured her a cup, before turning back to the small stove where he was busy cooking breakfast. "Careful, now. You'll break Genma's heart."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she took the life-giving liquid from his hands. "Speaking of Genma, is he awake yet? I'm going to toss him to the floor if he is." Her eyes narrowed as she thought about how much she would enjoy doing that as payback for all his flirting. She knew he didn't really mean it, but it still got on her nerves.

"Aw, C'Mon Sakura-chan! How could you be so mean?" And the man himself appeared, looking like he had gotten way more sleep the others. She wanted to punch him for not having bags under his eyes.

He expertly avoided her half-hearted punch, but missed her other hand as she jabbed her finger into his stomach. Ouch.

"Now, now. Just because you're cranky doesn't mean you get to pick on me."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Shiranui, _any_ reason is a good reason to pick on you."

"Alright, children. Stop bickering and eat your breakfast," Aoba said mockingly as he brought three full plates to the table.

Sakura and Genma jokingly glared at each other as they began eating. They had barely finished when they felt Temari's chakra approach.

"Well, at least we don't have to wait on her. That would've been awful—getting up early, then having to wait."

Sakura nodded in agreement with Genma's statement as she went to open the door. Temari stood there with her hand poised to knock. She stepped inside before closing the door. She stared at Sakura for a moment before speaking.

"I had no idea you would ever join ANBU. I can't even tell if that's really you or not."

Sakura snorted at Temari's disbelieving face. "It's me, although I will probably stay in henge the entire time we are here. It's just easier."

"What name will I introduce you as, then?"

"Keiko Itana."

Temari nodded, and then quickly ushered them all out the door towards the hospital. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Please R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto had been looking for Sakura all morning with no luck. He'd been to her house- or, her old house anyway. After scaring the poor lady who lived there, he'd learned that Sakura had moved several months ago. So, then he went looking at her new address, and hadn't had any luck either. Naruto had then decided to check the hospital, and had been on a wild goose chase ever since. He'd been all over Konoha looking for his errant teammate.

"Aww man! Just where could she be?!"

At this point Sai, who'd been dragged around midway through his friend's search chimed in. "Perhaps she is in Hokage Tower. It is a logical place for her to be, given her status as the Hokage's apprentice."

Naruto simply looked at Sai. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Sai gave Naruto a smile before answering. "Because you're dickless, obviously."

…x…..

"How did the investigation go?"

Sakura glanced at Tsunade out of the corner of her eye, as she continued organizing the bookcase. "I haven't had a chance to check in on the patient, but from what the boys said, it may be likely that he is somehow connected with the new religion. What are your thoughts? Have you heard anything from Ibiki and Yamanaka?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Nothing since the notification that they were beginning. I'm very interested to find out what they have learned. Your guess is definitely plausible." Tsunade paused to ruffle through some papers on her desk, shuffling through them until she found what she was looking for. "Take this to headquarters, and deliver it to Morino or Yamanaka. Then come back. You and I are going to have a spar."

…x….

Yamanaka Inoichi stood over the comatose body of the captured nin. He knew which operative had brought him in just by chakra patterns in his brain. She was really good at genjutsu, but was better at making the brain believe everything was normal. He was actually surprised she hadn't stopped in to see how the interrogation was going- but then, she'd been busy during the last week.

The interrogation team had learned some unsettling things from the captive, and he was just finishing up the report. He also made a mental note to send the "patient" to the high security research level. They would want to study his brain patterns under intense genjutsu. He shuddered. The researchers could be some crazy bastards when they wanted to be.

He looked up as he felt someone approaching his closed door. The chakra signal was that of Haruno Sakura, but being cautious kept him in business. He sealed his report just as she opened the door. "Ah, Sakura-chan, how nice to see you. Is there something that you need?"

Sakura noted the scroll and the unconscious ninja, before quickly turning her attention to Inoichi. "Tsunade-sama directed me to give this to you or Morino-san." She handed him the scroll, before turning to leave.

"Please wait a moment, Sakura-chan. Let me see what it is Hokage-sama needs." Inoichi quickly unrolled the scroll, reading it quickly. "Well, it seems that I finished just in time. Tsunade-sama wishes for the interrogation report. As I'm sure you noticed, I just finished up. Here is my report for Tsunade-sama." He handed her the rolled and sealed scroll on the desk. "Also, I will have the patient sent to the research level. He will be there whenever you are ready to check on your results."

Sakura simply smiled and nodded her thanks. Of course, Inoichi knew that she was the one who had brought him in, but no one else needed to know. ANBU were terrible gossips. It didn't help that the term _classified_ did not mean a lot when one was part of the most elite group in the village. "I will inform them that the patient is on the way, Inoichi-san. Someone will be waiting to sign off on his transfer."

…x….

Tsunade rolled her eyes for perhaps the millionth time. "Listen, brat! I said she will be back soon. Shut your trap!"

She glared daggers at the blonde in front of her. He was still annoying after all.

"But Baa-chan! I've been looking everywhere for Sakura-chan What do you mean she isn't here?"

This was the scene that Sakura walked in on. Tsunade's brow was ticking uncontrollably, Naruto was whining like a small child, and Sai was giggling with unholy glee in the corner- probably hoping that Tsunade would punt Naruto out of the window.

That thought took a minute to process. _Sai_ was giggling. _Giggling_ with _glee_. Sakura shuddered once before stepping all the way into the office to diffuse the situation.

"Naruto, you are not a child. Stop acting like one. Tsunade-sama, I have what you requested."

Sakura passed her the scroll before turning to berate Naruto some more.

"But Sakura-chan! I looked everywhere for you today, and then baa-chan wouldn't tell me where you were. I've been searching for _hours_."

"Well, I'm here now obviously, so stop throwing a tantrum." Sakura then noted the concerned narrowing of her shishou's eyes. "Tsunade-sama, is something wrong?"

The Hokage sighed heavily while reaching for the sake hidden under the desk, "Have a look at this, Sakura." Sakura reached for the scroll as Tsunade reached for more sake. "Uzumaki. Sai. Go find your elusive team leader and report back."

Sakura was so engrossed in the report, that she barely registered Naruto's protests and Tsunade's angered outburst. This was concerning. The nin she had captured did not know much, but he did know enough to warrant further investigation. Apparently, a call had gone out in the shinobi underworld that missing-nin were being welcomed into all of the port villages. She knew that there had recently been an influx of escort and protection missions from these places, and now understood why. The underbelly of shinobi society was migrating to the harbors and port towns- creating problems for those who lived there. She briefly wondered if perhaps they were trying to cut off the trade routes. It could not be left out of the equation- the economy was a powerful negotiation tool. She lifted her eyes from the words, to lock with Tsunades. "You think this could be connected with what happened in Suna, as well as the new religion? If I recall correctly from their report, they first heard about the religion while on the mainland. It would make sense since all of the port towns are being targeted."

Tsunade's brow arched. "That may be correct. I will summon the Naras, as well as Ibiki and Inoichi and discuss this news with them. When Naruto and Sai come back with Kakashi, verbally go over their report with them to see if they left even the minutest of details out. This is very concerning, indeed."


End file.
